Physical, psychological and social predictors of locus of control among middle aged adults

The purpose of this study was to determine through a systematic approach some of the more salient physical, psychological and social variables in locus of control orientation (I.E.) in middle adulthood. The sample for the study consisted of 337 adults from 22 churches selected at random from the Greensboro District of the United Methodist Church. The adults, aged 45 to 65 years, were administered questionnaires by a trained interviewer in church school classes during a regular Sunday morning meeting. Ten independent variables that were either physical, psychological or social in composition were arranged in a causal ordering and incorporated into a multiple regression equation which utilized locus of-control scores as the dependent measure. Category I, or the physical variables, included self rated health, age, sex, and race. The psychological variables constituted Category II and included three measures of self concept: actual, appearance and ideal. Category III, or the social variables, included education, occupation and religious motivation